













• Or •, 




A FAMILY RETROSPECT 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 



BY 

MARY ELLEN GRAYDON SHARPE 



"Each generation gathers together the 
imperishable children of the past, and in- 
creases them by new sons of light, alike 
radiant with immortality." — Bancroft. 



|Ber0onal CBtiition 



THE HOLLENBECK PRESS 
INDIANAPOLIS 



Copyright 1909 
By Mary Ellen Graydon Sharpe 









tit 



Dedicated 
TO MY CHILDREN 



^'Out of monuments, names, words, prov- 
erbs, traditions, private records and evi- 
dences, fragments of stories, passages of 
books, and the like, we do save and recover 
somewhat from the deluge of time." 

—Bacon. 



FOREWORD 

For the benefit of my children and rela- 
tives, I have gathered together bits of au- 
thenticated family history, to which I have 
added my own reminiscences. 

No effort has been made to present a for- 
mal account or complete history of a fam- 
ily worthy of much better treatment; but it 
has been the pleasant undertaking of one — 
already past her fourscore years — to set 
forth these annals. A grateful tribute to 
past generations — and a labor of love for 
the present. 

Mary Ellen Graydox Sharpe. 

Indianapolis, 1909. . 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 



j4 LEX-IXDER GR-\YDON, the fim 
I % of his name in An:er:ca, wai bom 
^^ in Loneford, Ireland, in 170S, of 
Scotch-Irish parents. He was educated in 
Dublin and ersduated ircni the Dublin 
University'. He was n:ar::ei 10 a Miss En:- 
erson, and in 1730 came to this country, set- 
tling in Philadelphia. There his wife died 
some years later, leaving r^'o children. "Be- 
ing designed for the pulpit he had received 
a dne education, to which, ha^ing added 
many of the accomplishments at the time in 
fashion, he was distinguished in his home 
cit}*, Philadelphia, both as a scholar and a 
gentleman." 

Chief Justice Shippen has said of him: 
"He was the person always appealed to in 



^ 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

the coffee house controversies of the young 
men of the day, on points of science and 
literature." 

During his presidency of the county 
courts of Bucks he had made himself a good 
lawyer in so much that at the time of his 
death he was in nomination for the office of 
a judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsyl- 
vania. 

From copies of his letters to his friends in 
Ireland, soon after his arrival in Philadel- 
phia, he appears not to have taken up very 
favorable sentiments of its inhabitants. 

'^Most of our trading people," he says, 
"are complaisant sharpers; and that maxim 
in trade — to think every man a knave until 
the contrary appears, would well be ob- 
served here if anywhere. In this province 
we have a toleration for all religions, which 
some have enlarged so far as to make a neg- 
lect and indifference of all religions their 
only religion/^ These being the opinions of 

2 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

a young man of about two and twenty years 
of age, it is not improbable that they were 
too hastily formed. In a letter dated the 
i8th of March, 1731, he says: ''Soon after 
we arrived here we rented a house from one 
Mr. Peter Boynton, adjacent to his own, 
who is a considerable merchant in this city. 
As he is a man of singular sobriety and not 
well affected to the reigning humor in this 
town, he has admitted us into his chief con- 
fidence and distinguished us as his principal 
friends and associates, in so much that he 
will enter upon no project or design in trade 
without admitting us to a share in it; and 
from the success of some we have already 
undertaken we have not the least room to 
doubt his sincerity and kindness." Such is 
his sketch of Philadelphia manners in 173 1. 
He continued to reside in Philadelphia 
and in the war, probably with Spain, which 
broke out in 1741, was engaged with several 
of the leading men of the city in building 

3 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

and fitting out the Tartar privateer. This 
vessel, supposed to be the finest, as she was 
the largest, that had at that time been built 
on the Delaware, had a singular fate. On 
her passage to the sea, at a fine season of the 
year, she was lost in the bay. To make the 
most of a gentle breeze, she was under full 
sail, when either from a deficiency of bal- 
last, a disproportion in her rigging or some 
other fault in her construction, she was al- 
most instantaneously overturned. The own- 
ers, who had formed a party to see her out 
of the capes, were on board, Alexander 
Graydon among them. So mild was the 
day, and so little cause was there for appre- 
hension, that he was amusing himself on 
deck with one of Moliere's plays when the 
disaster happened. Finding himself precip- 
itated among the waves, he seized on a chest 
that had floated from the vessel and with two 
sailors who were also on it were driven at 
the mercy of the waves for a considerable 

4 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

time with no prospect of relief. They were 
about to resign themselves to their fate when 
a vessel hove in sight and appeared to be 
making toward them. It proved to be true, 
and they were taken up while yet enough of 
vital power remained to render the means 
used for their restoration efficacious. The 
captain and the great part of the Tartar's 
crew were drowned, as were most of the 
owners on board." — This account of my 
great-grandfather has been taken from 
^^Graydon's Memoirs." 

Alexander Graydon's second wife was 
Rachel Marks, the eldest of four daughters. 
She was born in the island of Barbadoes and 
at the age of about seven years came with 
her parents to reside in Philadelphia. Her 
father was a German, born in Frankfort-on- 
the-Main. He had been engaged in business 
in Barbadoes and brought with him into 
Pennsylvania considerable property. Her 
mother was from Scotland, born in the city 

5 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

of Glasgow. How these ancestors of mine, 
with so little national affinity, were brought 
together I do not know. They resided in 
London previously to settling in the Barba- 
does. "While the tongue of my great- 
grandfather retained the character of its 
original dialect, that of his wife bore testi- 
mony of the country of her birth, and while 
he, a determined Episcopalian, had his pew 
in Christ church, she, a strict Presbyterian, 
was a constant attendant at Buttonwood 
church. No feuds were engendered by this 
want of religious conformity, and if my 
male ancestor sometimes consented to hear 
a sermon at the Presbyterian church, it 
might be considered a concession on his part 
for a sermon of Archbishop Tillotson which 
was regularly read aloud by one of the fam- 
ily on Sunday evening." 

Rachel Marks, who became the wife of 
Alexander Graydon, was pronounced by the 
celebrated Dr. Baird, "the finest girl in 

6 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

Philadelphia, having the manners of a lady 
bred at court," and when I look at her 
dainty wedding slipper of white satin em- 
broidered in colors and spangled, which is 
still carefully preserved, I can well imagine 
my gracious great-grandmother dancing 
the stately minuet with charming dignity. 
They had three sons, Alexander, Andrew 
and William. "They moved with their fam- 
ily to Bristol, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. 
There he built a large country mansion on 
an elevation a mile from the town, on the 
banks of the Delaware. He had long been 
improving the site before he began to build ; 
had planted it with the best fruits of every 
kind, and given to it the style of embellish- 
ment, with respect to the disposition of the 
ground and trees, which was at that time 
in fashion." Several India ink drawings 
of this estate, made by one of his sons, are 
still in existence. This home he enjoyed 
only a few years, his death coming suddenly 

7 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

in March, 1761. ''His funeral took place in 
Philadelphia. Six of his old friends there 
were the pall-bearers. Much pomp was 
shown on the occasion. He was buried in 
the graveyard of the Market street church 
in or near the tomb wherein his first wife 
laid. He died possessed of a large landed 
property, consisting of an equal part of one 
thousand acres near Bristol, purchased in 
conjunction with Mr. Mcllvaine in the year 
1752, of William Whitaker of London." 

Mrs. Graydon was left a widow at the 
age of thirty-two with a family of four chil- 
dren. She decided to remove to Philadel- 
phia in order to educate her sons, and while 
there she occupied The Old Penn House 
on Market street, known as the ''Slate 
House." 

During the stirring times preceding the 
Revolution many British officers made their 
home with her, as with some others of the 
good citizens of the little city, then so 

8 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

crowded with foreigners. Washington and 
Hancock were also frequent guests. 

Two sons, at the commencement of the 
war, entered the service, Alexander and 
Andrew. The latter gave his life to his 
country early in the strife, the former be- 
came captain in the regiment of Colonel 
Cadwallader of Philadelphia, and met with 
many interesting adventures. These, with 
the bravery of his mother, have filled quite 
a little space in the annals of that period and 
the latter may justly be called ''a matron of 
the Revolution." When the war com- 
menced in earnest it was not deemed safe to 
remain in Philadelphia and she removed 
to Reading, where, the account continues, 
^'her home was the seat of hospitality and 
the resort of numerous guests of distinction. 
Baron de Kalb was often there and between 
her own and General Mifflin's family there 
was a strong intimacy existing." 

In 1777, Captain Graydon was taken 

9 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

prisoner at the battle of Fort Washington, 
and it was rumored the prisoners were in- 
humanly treated and were to be sent to Eng- 
land. Mrs. Graydon determined to go to 
New York, notwithstanding the opposition 
of her friends on account of the difficulties 
of traveling at that time. She accordingly 
purchased a horse and chair and set out for 
Philadelphia. On her arrival in the city, 
a relative of her mother named Fisher was 
officious in tendering his services to drive 
her to New York, and the offer was ac- 
cepted, but when they had nearly reached 
Princeton, they were overtaken, to their as- 
tonishment, by a detachment of American 
cavalry, Fisher, it seems, being a loyalist. 
Mrs. Graydon, found in such evil company, 
was also taken in custody, and after some 
delay was obliged to retrace her road to 
Philadelphia under an escort of horse. 

When they arrived at Bristol on their re- 
turn, means were found for Mr. Fisher to 

lO 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

go on without the chair, and at once proper 
measures were taken for Mrs. Graydon to 
proceed within the British lines. Colonel 
Mcllvaine, an old friend, agreed to accom- 
pany her, and the following passport was ob- 
tained from the President of Congress: 

"To all Continental officers whom it may 
concern : Permit Colonel Joseph Mcllvaine 
and Mrs. Rachel Graydon to pass Morris- 
town without the least hindrance or inter- 
ruption. Given under my hand at Phila- 
delphia, this twenty-sixth day of May, 1777. 
''JOH^ Hancock, President." 

"Mr. Gustavus Reisburgh attends Mrs. 
Graydon to Bristol, who is to pass unmo- 
lested. John Hancock, President." 

Proceeding under the escort of Colonel 
Mcllvaine to the headquarters of the Amer- 
ican Army, General Washington gave the 
following: 

II 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

"Mrs. Graydon, a widow lady of Phila- 
delphia, has permission to pass the guards of 
my army in order to go into Brunswick, to 
endeavor to obtain liberty of the command- 
ing officer there to go into New York to visit 
her son, Captain Graydon, a prisoner of 
War. 

"Given at Headquarters Camp at Middle 
Brook, this 30th day of May, 1777. 

''Geo. Washington." 

After being conducted to the lines, Mrs. 
Graydon was committed to the courtesy of 
some Hessian officers. It happened during 
the ceremony of the flag that a gun was 
somewhere discharged on the American 
side. This infringement of military eti- 
quette was furiously resented by the German 
officers, and their vehement gestures and 
expressions of indignation, but imperfectly 
understood by Mrs. Graydon, alarmed her 
not a little. She supported herself as well as 

12 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

she could under this inauspicious introduc- 
tion into the hostile territory, and had her 
horse led to the quarters of General Corn- 
wallis, who was in command in Brunswick, 
where she alighted and was shown into a 
parlor. Weary and faint from fatigue and 
agitation, she partook of some refreshment 
offered her, and then went to deliver a letter 
of introduction she had received from Mr. 
Van Horn, of Boundbrook, to a gentleman 
in Brunswick. Five of the Misses Van 
Horn, his nieces, were staying at the house 
and with them Mrs. Graydon became well 
acquainted, as they avowed Whig princi- 
ples. Their uncle had been compelled to 
leave Flatbush on account of his attachment 
to the American cause, but was permitted 
not long afterward to return to his house 
there, accompanied by Mrs. Van Horn and 
her daughters. 

On presenting her passports to General 

13 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

Cornwallis, that officer directed the follow- 
ing order to be issued : 

"Brunswick, May 31st, 1777. 

"It is Lord Cornwallis' order that Mrs. 
Graydon be permitted to go to New York 
in one of the sloops. 

"Chas. Eustice, Aide-de-Camp." 

Being detained in Brunswick several 
days, Mrs. Graydon at last embarked in a 
sloop or shallop for New York, where she 
arrived in due time. The vessel, however, 
was fired upon from the shore, but no one 
was injured. At New York she received 
upon application the following: 

"To all whom it may concern: Mrs. 
Graydon has permission to pass and repass 
from hence to Flatbush to see her son. 
"Jas. Loring, Commissary Prisoners. 

"New York, 3rd June, 1777." 

14 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

Reaching Flatbush, Mrs. Graydon, 
through the kindness of Mr. Bache, occu- 
pied his part of Mr. Suydam's house during 
her stay there. Here, in the society of her 
son, her accustomed flow of good spirits re- 
turned. She even gave one or two tea- 
drinkings to the ^'rebel clan" and learned 
from Major Williams the art of making 
''Johnny cakes" in the true Maryland fash- 
ion. These recreations did not, however, 
interfere with the object of her expedition, 
nor could her son dissuade her from her 
purpose of proving the result of an appli- 
cation. 

When Mrs. Graydon called on Mr. Gal- 
loway, in New York, whom she had known 
when he was a citizen of Philadelphia, and 
who was supposed to have much influence 
at British headquarters, he advised her to 
apply to Sir William Howe by memorial, 
and offered to draw one up for her. In a 
few minutes he produced what accorded 

15 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

with his ideas on the subject, and read to her 
what he had written, commencing with: 

"Whereas, Mrs. Graydon has always been 
a true and faithful subject to His Majesty, 
George the Third, and 

"Whereas, her son, an inexperienced 
youth, has been deluded by the arts of de- 
signing men " 

"Oh, Sir,'' said Mrs. Graydon, "that will 
never do! My son can not obtain his release 
on those terms." "Then, Madame," replied 
Mr. Galloway peevishly, "I can do nothing 
for you." 

Though depressed by the treatment she 
thus received at the hands of Mr. Galloway, 
Mrs. Graydon would not relinquish her 
object, but continued to advise with every 
one she thought able or willing to assist her. 
In accordance with the counsel she received 
from a friend, she at length resolved upon 
a direct application to Sir William Howe. 

i6 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

After several weeks of delay, anxiety and 
disappointment, the design was put into ex- 
ecution. Without having informed her son 
of what she meant to do, lest he might pre- 
vent her, through the fear of improper con- 
cessions on her part, she went one evening 
into New York and boldly waited upon 
General Howe. She was shown into a par- 
lor and had a few minutes to consider how 
she should address him who possessed the 
power to grant her request or destroy her 
hopes. He entered the room and was near 
her before she perceived him. 

"Sir William Howe, I presume?" said 
Mrs. Graydon, rising. He bowed; she 
made known her business — a mother's feel- 
ings doubtless giving eloquence to her 
speech — and entreated permission for her 
son to go home on parole. 

"And then immediately to take up arms 
against us, I suppose?" said Lord Howe. 

"By no means, Sir; I solicit his release 

17 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

upon parole, that will restrain him until ex- 
changed; but on my own part I will go 
further and say that if I have any influence 
over him he shall never take up arms 
again." Here the feelings of the patriot 
were wholly lost in those of the "war-detest- 
ing mother." General Howe seemed to hesi- 
tate, but at the earnest renewal of her suit, 
gave the desired permission. 

The mother's joy at her success was the 
prelude to a welcome summons to the pris- 
oner to repair to New York for the purpose 
of being transported in a flag vessel to Eliz- 
abethtown. 

After some further adventures the travel- 
ers reached Philadelphia where they dined 
at President Hancock's. The latter had at 
first, it is said, opposed Mrs. Graydon's 
going to New York, but was gratified at her 
success. On all sides she was warmly con- 
gratulated for her endurance and heroism, 
and after a lapse of over a century the ac- 

i8 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

count as herewith given exemplifies, in a 
great measure, the hardships of a true 
American woman of the Revolution. (This 
account is taken from ''Notes and Queries," 
by William Henry Egle.) 

Several years after the close of the war 
Captain Graydon gave to the world his 
book "Memoirs of a Life," a book treating 
of affairs at the time and after the war when 
the country was in the process of reconstruc- 
tion. It was a book of high merit and was 
well esteemed. ''The Compendium of 
American Literature," used to-day in our 
schools, styles it "the first book of literary 
merit published in America." The auth- 
or's ripe scholarship is evidenced in his 
graceful style and his frequent use of Latin 
and French in both poetry and prose. The 
Historical Society of Philadelphia issued 
an Edition de Luxe of this book in 1879. 
Captain Alexander Graydon II was buried 
at Bristol, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. 

19 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

My grandfather, William Graydon, the 
son of Alexander Graydon and Rachel 
Marks, was born near Bristol, Bucks 
County, Pennsylvania, September 4th, 1759. 
"He was educated in Philadelphia, and 
studied law under his relative, Edward Bid- 
die, of that city. He came to Harrisburg 
upon the organization of the county of Dau- 
phin, and began the practice of his profes- 
sion, being admitted at the May term, 1786. 
He was the first notary public, commis- 
sioned September 2nd, 1791, and a leading 
man in the borough during the ^Mill Dam 
Troubles' of 1794-5. f^^ was many years 
member of the town council and president 
thereof, and subsequently one of the bur- 
gesses. He was the author of Torms of 
Conveyancing' (in two volumes), ^Gray- 
don's Digest,' ^The Judge's Assistant,' and 
edited 'An Abridgment of the Laws of the 
United States' in 1802. Mr. Graydon was 
prominent in the organization of the First 

20 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

Presbyterian church, and was for many- 
years an elder thereof. He died at Har- 
risburg on the 13th of October, 1840, in 
the eighty-second year of his age. ^Mr. 
Graydon,' says Dr. Robinson, 'was a 
man of fine literary tastes; was highly es- 
teemed as a gentleman of the old school, 
in his manners refined, courteous, of un- 
blemished integrity in the many trusts com- 
mitted to him, of high and honorable 
principles, and in the church and walks of 
Christian life a man of true piety and deep 
devotion.' Mr. Harris in his 'Reminis- 
cences of the Bar' says, 'He was a man of 
medium height, of very gentlemanly man- 
ners, of dark lively eyes, neat if not precise 
in dress, and of an intelligent countenance. 
His portrait painted by the renowned 
Francis is in existence, and is an excellent 
representation. He wore a cue tied with a 
ribbon, and had his hair powdered.' We 
can add this additional testimony, that he 

21 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

was humane and benevolent, and in all 
charitable enterprises was the acknowledged 
leader. H. Murray Graydon, lawyer of 
Harrisburg, and Dr. William Graydon of 
Dauphin, were his sons." (From Egle's 
"Notes and Queries," Vol. i.) 

My grandfather's appearance deserves 
word of mention before passing on to other 
things. The portrait by Francis shows him 
seated, holding a prayer-book in his hand. 
His cue is tied with ribbon, lace frills at 
the neck and wrists and a rose in his button- 
hole. His face is strong and highly intel- 
lectual. As he used to sit in his old arm- 
chair just under this portrait, one could 
scarcely tell which was the real man. 

A little incident of my childhood still 
lingers with me. A cousin of my grand- 
father, Marks Biddle of Reading, was in 
the habit of paying him frequent visits. He 
was equally immaculate in appearance, and 
it was very quaint to see these two precise 

22 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

old gentlemen, with their powdered hair, 
shoe and knee buckles, greet each other by 
clasping their hands and kissing each other 
in the most affectionate manner. Truly a 
picture of the olden times! 

My grandfather had great Christian 
fortitude. For a long time before his death 
he was ill, and on one occasion when his 
daughter Rachel was grieving over his suf- 
fering, he said to her with his usual courage 
"It is all right, my daughter. Strange that 
a harp of a thousand strings should keep in 
tune so long!" 

My grandfather was married to Eleanor, 
daughter of Major Peter Scull. Their 
children were: 

Alexander, my father; 

Andrew, who never married; 

Rachel, who became the wife of Judge 
McKinney; 

Eleanor, who married Dr. Joseph Smith, 
and after his death, George Whitehill; 

23 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

Mary, who married the Rev. A. O. Hub- 
bard. 

Several years after the death of his first 
wife, my grandfather, William Graydon, 
married Eleanor Murray. Their children 
were: 

Theodosia, who married Joel Hinckley; 

William, a physician, who married Es- 
ther Marshall of Virginia; 

Julia, who died in her lovely girlhood; 

Henry Murray, who married Sarah 
Sloan, and lived in the old Harrisburg home 
during a long and useful life. 

My grandparents were buried in the old 
cemetery at Harrisburg. 

A few years ago the mortal remains of 
Murray Graydon, the dear friend of my 
youth, were laid to rest in the beautiful 
Mount Kalmia, and when the grave closed 
over him, not one of the old family was left. 
They all died in the faith. They were loyal 
to home and duty. The grave covered 

24 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

nothing that in any of their lives were better 
hid, no heart secret or mortal stain, and they 
sweetly rest, in hope of eternal life. 

In regard to Major Peter Scull's record 
the following is from a certified copy 
taken from the Pennsylvania Archives: 
"Major Peter Scull was commissioned July, 
1775, Second Lieutenant of Captain Nagle's 
company. Then promoted to Captain of 
3rd Pennsylvania Battalion. Then was pro- 
moted to Major. On July 17th, 1779, he 
was made secretary of the Board of War. 
He died at sea November 4th, 1779." 

After copying this short account of my 
great-grandfather, Major Scull, there came 
into my hands a package that had laid 
in the attic of the old home more than a 
hundred years. From the inscription I in- 
fer it had been there from the year 1800. I 
must confess to a feeling of awe and rever- 
ence as I untied the strings that had been 
fastened by hands long since laid in ever- 

25 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

lasting repose. It contained many papers 
relating to the estate of Major Peter Scull, 
of which my grandfather, William Gray- 
don, was one of the executors. Also a letter 
from the surgeon of the ship on which he 
died, written in 1780. Besides there was an 
inventory of his personal effects. From the 
number and character of his books, aside 
from those on military tactics, I infer that 
my great-grandfather had decided literary 
tastes. Some things enumerated in the in- 
ventory were quite odd to our modern ideas, 
and led me to believe he was also a man of 
fashion, such as "one pair of white satin 
breeches, one pair of nankeen, one hair bag 
for wig, red cloth coat, silver knee buckles," 
and other things equally quaint. There 
were two papers of exceeding interest to me. 
One, the commission of Peter Scull as 
Major in the regiment of Colonel Pattison, 
signed by "John Hancock, President of 
Congress." The other, with the great seal 

26 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

of the thirteen states attached, was the com- 
mission of a certain Henry Savage with the 
signature, in two places, of '^John Jay, Pres- 
ident of Congress," and of "Major Peter 
Scull, Secretary of Board of War; in the 
fourth year of our independence, 1779." 

I felt I had indeed come into the posses- 
sion of a treasure, a tangible proof of the 
part my great-grandfather had taken in the 
great Revolution. I looked with reverence 
at the handwriting of two of our country's 
greatest statesmen, and thanked God that in 
her hour of peril, such men were at the 
helm, guiding our Ship of State. 

My father, Alexander Graydon III, the 
eldest son in a large family of sons and 
daughters, was born in Harrisburg, Penn- 
sylvania, September 18, 1791, where he re- 
sided until he had arrived at middle life. 

During the serious trouble with the Brit- 
ish, under Admiral Cockburn in 1814, when 
they burned Washington and committed 

27 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

many serious depredations all along the 
coast, marching at last to Baltimore and 
bombarding Fort McHenry, my father en- 
listed in the service and with his regiment 
marched to the seat of war. There he re- 
mained in camp until the British were 
driven away. 

My father was first married to Sarah 
Geddes on June 23rd, 1818. She died the 
following year after the birth of her son, 
Robert Geddes Graydon. 

Dr. Robert Geddes Graydon, after his 
graduation at eastern colleges, went to Indi- 
ana. Early in life he married Sarah Todd, 
daughter of Judge Levi Todd of Kentucky. 
After her death he married her cousin Eliza 
Todd, who lived but a few months. After 
many years he married Flora Finch of In- 
dianapolis, with whom he lived in great 
happiness for twenty-five years. 

My father was married to my mother, 
Jane Chambers McKinney, September 

28 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

19th, 1822. Here I close his personal his- 
tory and jot down what I know^ of my moth- 
er's ancestors, before continuing a narrative 
of their united lives. 

The following I copy from an account 
written by my mother in her old age, re- 
garding her family: 

"My father was Mordecai McKinney. 
He was born in New Jersey about 1750. 
The New Jersey Historical Society furn- 
ished this certified account: 

" 'Mordecai McKinney served as a pri- 
vate minute man in the Hunterdon County, 
New Jersey militia; private. Captain 
George Kibble's company. First Regiment, 
Sussex county. New Jersey militia. Private, 
Captain Joseph Harkus' company, Second 
Regiment, Sussex county. New Jersey mili- 
tia; also served as private in Major Samuel 
Westbrook's Battalion, New Jersey State 
Troops, during the Revolutionary War.' " 

29 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

Mordecai McKinney was married to Ag- 
nes Bodine in 1752. Her ancestor, ^^Jean 
Bodine, founder of the Bodine family, was 
born in France and fled from there with 
other Huguenots, first to London in 1681, 
and then to Staten Island where he died in 
1695. He left numerous descendants in 
New Jersey." (From Rev. Theodore F. 
Chambers' book, "The Early Germans in 
New Jersey.") 

"My grandparents had quite a large fam- 
ily of children. They lived in the Valley 
of Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and in the great 
massacre by the Indians they were obliged 
to flee for their lives. Coming down the Sus- 
quehanna River they stopped at Paxton, 
where my grandfather died and was buried 
in the old graveyard of Paxton church. 

"One son, John, married Miss Taliaferro 
of Virginia, and their son, John Taliaferro 
McKinney became one of the Supreme 
Judges of Indiana. He resided in Brook- 

30 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

villc, Indiana, and died there in 1830. He 
is buried in the old Presbyterian graveyard 
in Brookville. One daughter, my Aunt 
Catherine, married Cornelius Lowe and 
had several children; one of them was a 
lawyer in Ithaca, New York, and a daugh- 
ter married Captain Cross, U. S. A., and 
after his death Colonel Perry of St. Louis. 
The family were great sufferers by the war 
of 18 1 2, living on what was called the fron- 
tier, near Erie, Pennsylvania. At the surren- 
der of Fort Erie and the battle of Queens- 
town, Uncle Lowe was killed. His son. 
Lieutenant Lowe, and his son-in-law, a son 
of Ethan Allan of Revolutionary fame, 
were also numbered among the slain. When 
the cry came, 'The English and Indians are 
coming!' a daughter, whose name I have 
forgotten, was surprised by her husband's 
rushing in with the alarming news, just as 
she was in the act of dressing her babe. She 
barely had time to snatch up a few clothes 

31 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

and escape for her life. After the storm of 
battle was over and they could return to 
their homes in safety, nothing was to be seen 
but the land — house, barn and live stock all 
destroyed. 

"Aunt Lowe's youngest son Vincent was 
appointed cadet at West Point. He lost his 
life by the explosion of a cannon at a 4th of 
July celebration. A monument was erected 
to his memory at West Point. It was the 
first one erected there and still stands. He 
was much beloved by his classmates and 
tutors. 

"Another daughter. Aunt Buckalew, lived 
in Clearfield county, Pennsylvania. In 1824 
with my father and mother and my i£^^^ little 
daughter (the author of this little history) 
we paid them a visit. They were living in 
simple style, in what was then a wilderness. 
Uncle Buckalew was a fine specimen of an 
old man, eighty years of age, and could 
handle a flail as well as his sons. Aunt was 

32 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

a beautiful old lady. The children of this 
old couple were good, clever people, who 
did faithfully what was given them to do. 
In later days the name has become known 
through the prominence and popularity of 
a grandson, Charles Buckalew, who was 
sent to Congress by his district, where he 
was noted for many years for his eloquence 
and democracy. 

^'Another daughter, Ann, married Mich- 
ael Elder, one of the ten sons of old Parson 
Elder. They had two children, Myra and 
Preston. 

"Mordecai McKinney, my father, was a 
man of great energy and large business ex- 
perience. He was engaged in shipping and 
had two mills, cotton and wool, in Wilming- 
ton and Newport, Delaware. Spinning jen- 
nies were then a favorite topic of conversa- 
tion, with the raising of sheep. I remem- 
ber, when a child, my father brought home 
a big black merino buck, which cost several 

33 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

hundred dollars. To go with him to the 
sheepfold and see the little lambs was a 
great treat to me. My father was a good 
patriot, and refused, as did many others, to 
import anything from the mother country, 
so the mills were kept very busy to manu- 
facture what would supply the home de- 
mand. I have heard my mother say that he 
was a proud man when he walked out one 
day with his four little daughters all dressed 
in gingham of his own manufacture. Even 
now I have in my possession some beautiful 
materials manufactured by him. He after- 
ward moved to Pennsylvania, having pur- 
chased Grandfather Chambers' beautiful 
farm, which had large water power. Here 
we lived until 1817, when we moved to 
Harrisburg. From the effect of the late 
war, the condition of the country brought 
on a crisis. Mills stopped everywhere, and 
all this industry and energy was expended 
in vain. After coming to Harrisburg my 

34 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

father was in failing health for several 
years, and in the year 1827 was taken to that 
better country where there are no disap- 
pointments." 

Here I close my mother's recital, and will 
recall something of her own family. 

My grandmother's (my mother's moth- 
er) maiden name was Mary (Polly) Cham- 
bers, the daughter of Colonel William 
Chambers and of Eleanor Talbot of Mary- 
land. 

'William Chambers, commissioned cap- 
tain. First Battalion Cumberland County 
Associators, and in actual service July, 1776. 

''William Chambers, commissioned col- 
onel, July 31, 1777, of Third Battalion 
Cumberland County militia; called into 
service by order of Council July 28th, 1777. 

"William Chambers, colonel of the Third 
Battalion Cumberland County militia, May 

35 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

14th, 1778; in service ^to ye Standing Stone' 
by order of Council July 14, 1778. 

"William Chambers in command of a 
part of his Class Battalion of Cumberland 
County militia in service on the frontier of 
Bedford and Westmoreland counties, in the 
spring and summer of 1779. 

''Certified to by 

"William Henry Egle, M. D. 

"Editor Penn'a Archives." 

Colonel Chambers is mentioned in the min- 
utes of the Council of Safety, as captain in 
the First Regiment of Cumberland County, 
Pennsylvania, in 1777, under Colonel Eph- 
raim Blaine, great-grandfather of the late 
James G. Blaine. He fought in the Battle of 
Brandywine and in the battles of Trenton, 
Princeton and Germantown. (From Wing's 
History of Cumberland County Pennsyl- 
vania.) 

Colonel Chambers was the son of John 

36 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

Chambers, who was the son of Ronald 
Chambers, who was the son of James Cham- 
bers of Alster, Ireland. Their home was 
on a beautiful estate in Cumberland County, 
near Carlisle. There were several daugh- 
ters who were noted for their beauty and 
were the boast of that region. His son Colo- 
nel Talbot Chambers, was in the United 
States service. He was stationed for many 
years in Texas, then the most forlorn region 
on the frontier, being considered the asylum 
for all criminals from the states. There he 
died alone, and of all the property he owned 
there and all his personal effects, the family 
have never been able to find a trace. Other 
children were John, Arthur, Mary (Polly), 
Jane, Margaret and Ellen. 

A large family of great-grandchildren of 
Colonel Chambers were prominent in Penn- 
sylvania and New York. Among them 
were: 

Rev. Talbot Chambers of New York, who 

37 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

married Miss Louisa Frelinghuysen. He 
was pastor, until his death, of the Associate 
Dutch Reformed Church of New York 
City. Dr. Theodore Frelinghuysen Cham- 
bers, his son, is a well-known minister. He 
is the author of "The Early Germans of 
New Jersey," and other books. 

William Chambers, who was the well- 
known portrait and figure painter. He 
spent much time in Italy. He died while 
still young in Philadelphia where much of 
his work is still highly valued. (I own sev- 
eral of his portraits, and a copy of an Old 
Master, all very beautiful.) 

Mary Chambers married George Shars- 
wood of Philadelphia, one of the Chief 
Justices of Pennsylvania. Her home in 
Philadelphia, which was shared by her sis- 
ters. Misses Annie and Elizabeth Cham- 
bers, was filled with rare paintings and 
works of art, and in later days its charm was 
increased by its quaintness. Cousin Ann 

38 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

Near, a beautiful old lady, was also a mem- 
ber of this household, in her old age. 

My grandparents, Mordecai McKinney 
and Mary (Polly) Chambers were married 
June 1 8th, 1795, and removed to the state 
of Delaware. (The record of Mordecai 
McKinney as Revolutionary soldier has al- 
ready been given.) Their children were: 

Mordecai McKinney, graduate of Dick- 
inson College, lawyer and judge at Harris- 
burg, author of several popular law books. 

Eliza, unmarried, born 1800, died 1865. 

Jane Chambers, married Alexander 
Graydon. 

Sarah, married the Rev. John McKinney 
and removed to Mt. Vernon, Ohio. 

Ellen, a beautiful girl who died at the 
age of nineteen. 

John Chambers, unmarried, graduate of 
Dickinson College, professor in several col- 
leges, born 181 2, died 1880. 

Edmund^ graduate of Washington Col- 

39 



w^/w 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

lege and divinity student at Andover, mar- 
ried Theresa Dennis of Pittsburg. 

Mary Ann, married the Rev. William P. 
Alexander. They w^ent as missionaries to 
the Sandwich Islands. 

I well remember sitting beside my grand- 
mother, when I was a girl, and hearing her 
tell many interesting things of times past. 
Once, she said, they were all summoned to 
the front lawn, servants and all, and down 
the road, through clouds of dust, came the 
equipage of General Washington! It was in 
true English style, a coach and four, out- 
riders, postillions and all the other et cet- 
eras of grandeur. Within was seated the 
great hero himself, bowing graciously as he 
passed. She thought him ''a handsome man, 
with very dignified presence," which has 
been the accepted idea always. 

My grandmother was small and very 
erect, even at the time of her death at an 
advanced age. I own a quaint and fascin- 

40 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

ating portrait of her, in a mob cap, made 
when she was first married, and it is not 
hard to believe that she was a belle in her 
day. The companion piece, of her husband, 
is quite as interesting. 

My grandfather, Mordecai McKinney, 
died in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he 
was buried. My grandmother died at the 
home of my mother in Indianapolis, Indi- 
ana, in 1865, at the age of ninety-four, re- 
taining to the last the beauty and dignity of 
a true gentlewoman. She is buried in Crown 
Hill cemetery. 

Her youngest daughter, Mary Ann, was 
married in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to the 
Rev. William Patterson Alexander of Paris, 
Kentucky, on October 25th, 183 1, and 
sailed with him as missionary to the Sand- 
wich Islands. How well I remember dear 
Aunt Mary Ann. I was only a little girl of 
seven and stood on the veranda and wit- 
nessed the last parting from parents and rel- 

41 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

atives. All had gathered to say good-by, 
never expecting to meet again. The stage 
was at the door. The last farewells were 
said and soon the stage passed out of sight. 
I never forgot the scene. What courage, 
what a devotion to Christ's religion, that 
would make such a sacrifice possible! For 
more than half a century they labored and 
suffered for the cause they loved, and they 
lived to see the glorious light of the Gospel 
irradiating those beautiful isles of the sea. 
"They that sow in tears shall reap in joy" 
has been abundantly fulfilled in their lives 
of consecration and self-denial; their hopes 
were crowned with success, their labors not 
in vain. Mr. Alexander died August 13th, 
1884, and his wife followed him June 29th, 
1888. At the time of their golden wedding 
in 1 88 1, which was celebrated with great 
joy by the whole community, they were 
blessed with the presence of their children 
and grandchildren numbering forty-four in 

42 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

all. One grandchild had died, the only 
death in fifty years. Their children are: 

William DeWitt Alexander, surveyor- 
general of Hawaii, Honolulu, married Abi- 
gail Charlotte Baldwin in i860; 

Samuel Thomas Alexander, married 
Martha Eliza Cooke at Honolulu, 1864; 

James McKinney Alexander, clergyman, 
married Mary Webster, California, 1867; 

Ann Elizabeth Alexander, married 
Charles Henry Dickey, Indianapolis, 1867; 

Emily Whitney Alexander, married 
Henry Perrine Baldwin, Wailuku, Maui, 
1870; 

Henry Martyn Alexander, married Eliza 
Wight at Kohala, Hawaii, 1874; 

Charles Hodge Alexander, married Hel- 
en Goodale Thurston at Honolulu, 1878; 

Ellen Charlotte Alexander, married Giu- 
lio Ferreri, London, England, 1901 ; 

Mary Jane Alexander, unmarried. 

In 1904 there were sixty-one descendants. 

43 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

These sons and daughters were all graduates 
of the leading colleges of the United States 
and have traveled the world over. 

Samuel Alexander met with a tragic 
death in 1904 while hunting with his daugh- 
ter in Africa. 

Rev. James Alexander is author of "Mis- 
sion Life in Hawaii," "Islands of the Pa- 
cific," and other books. 

My mother, Jane Chambers McKinney, 
was born in Wilmington, Delaware, on July 
i6th, 1802. She was essentially a child of 
the century, opening her baby eyes at its 
commencement and closing them as it 
neared its end. 

Her early life was spent in Wilmington. 
She went to school to a celebrated teacher, 
Evan Lewis, whom she always remembered 
with gratitude. Her thirst for knowledge 
was extreme. Indeed, throughout her whole 
life, she was remarkable for her enthusiasm 
in the cultivation of her mind, putting to 

44 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

shame younger members of the family in 
her energetic pursuit of any subject that 
claimed her attention. At the age of eighty 
she was studying astronomy with all the 
enthusiasm of youth. 

My mother always loved to talk of her 
beautiful home on the banks of the Brandy- 
wine, the old stone mansion, with its hospi- 
table halls, and the romantic grounds sur- 
rounding it. Two old slaves, ''Daddy Jack" 
and "Old Sackey" were her special friends 
and she loved to go to their cabins and listen 
to the weird stories of their early lives. ''Old 
Sackey" was a king's daughter in Africa. 
She was playing on the beach one day with 
other girls, when the white man came and 
stole her away and thrust her into the hor- 
rible hold of a slave ship. She could never 
speak of the awful experience without 
trembling all over, and to the day of her 
death she never smiled! 

My mother attributed much of her own 

45 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

horror of slavery to the impression made on 
her childish mind by these recitals. 

The family moved to Harrisburg, Penn- 
sylvania, when she was thirteen years old, so 
that her girlhood and much of her married 
life was spent there. 

She was one of five sisters, and their home 
life was a very happy one. There was so 
much of earnestness and vivacity in the 
character of my mother that she was a born 
leader, and not only did her home feel her 
influence, but in widening circles of benev- 
olence and religion her power was felt. She 
united with the Presbyterian church, under 
Dr. Dewitt of Harrisburg, in her eighteenth 
year and was a faithful member of the 
church, through long years of service, till 
she joined the church triumphant in the 
upper home. 

It has been a source of amusement in the 
family to hear my mother, rather shyly, tell 
of her love affairs. It seems that my father 

46 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

had never been openly attentive to her, and 
where there were so many sisters it would 
be difficult to designate a single one as an 
especial favorite. But the fates were pro- 
pitious! There came a very stormy night. 
It rained and blew fierce blasts down the 
Susquehanna River, and the old home on its 
bank felt all the force of the storm, but 
within all was cozy comfort. All the sisters 
and a young friend sat at their work in the 
back parlor. The father, who loved quiet, 
closed the door between and sat in the ad- 
joining room with his books and papers. 
Suddenly there came a loud knock at the 
street door. What was it? Some belated 
wanderer seeking refuge from the storm? 
The father went to the door and ushered 
some one in. The girls waited breathlessly, 
until he came to the door and said very 
pointedly, ''Jane, Mr. Graydon wishes to 
see you!" My mother could never exactly 
explain how she got from one room to an- 

47 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

Other amid the smiles and glances of the 
girls around her. But that was the begin- 
ning, and in the year 1822 my father, Alex- 
ander Graydon, and my mother, Jane 
Chambers McKinney, were married. 

A large family of children and the duties 
and cares they brought with them were 
cheerfully borne by my good, patient moth- 
er. She never owned to being tired, but 
worked with hand and heart for the welfare 
of her household. Her children were: 

Mary Ellen, who married Joseph Kinne 
Sharpe, of Indianapolis. He was born in 
Pomfret, Connecticut. 

William, married Mary Merrill, Indi- 
anapolis. 

Alexander, married Mary Frank Foster 
of Madison, Indiana. 

Vincent Lowe^ died at the age of twenty- 
one. 

Sarah, died in infancy. 

Jane McKinney, died in her nineteenth 

48 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

year, on the eve of her marriage to Mr. 
Abram Brower of Aurora. 

Theodore, died in his fourteenth year. 

Twins, unnamed, visitants of a day. 

Edwin, died at age of one year. 

Emma, married to James Alexander of 
Paris, Illinois. 

Andrew, married to Lavinia Doxon of 
Indianapolis. 

Edward Payson, died in infancy. 

James Weir, married to Mary McCul- 
loch of New Orleans. 

In the latter part of our residence in Har- 
risburg, began the great struggle between 
the old Colonization Society and the Aboli- 
tionists. 

I well remember hearing conversations, 
arguments and often very bitter words be- 
tween the elder members of our large con- 
nection, when they would meet en famille 
at our home, and what had always been a 
pleasure to me as a child became a source 

49 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

of dread. My parents and one uncle stood 
firm for the slave and the duty of abolition; 
while all the others considered them fanat- 
ics and hurled abuse upon them in no very 
gentle manner. My grandfather once said 
to my father, in my presence, "I can not see, 
Alexander, why you have taken up such 
wild ideas! Why do you attempt to force 
public opinion? Why not let well enough 
alone?" and I can even now hear my father's ' 
firm reply: "If the old society should work 
a hundred years it could not lift more than 
a few hundreds of poor slaves out of bond- 
age a year, while this system is piling up 
its tens of thousands of agonized men and 
women and children every year of its ex- 
istence. No, we will work until slavery is 
wiped out and is no longer a foul blot on our 
escutcheon." From that time our home was 
thrown open for all whose sympathies were 
with the slave, and became the central sta- 
tion of the underground railroad. 

50 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

Here I copy what relates to this subject 
in some reminiscences I wrote after the 
death of John Greenleaf Whittier, for the 
Indianapolis News: 

^'The name of Whittier for many years 
was a household word to me. Aside from 
the melody and pathos of his beautiful 
poetry, his real, living presence as a wel- 
come guest at our home is ever a cherished 
memory. In the early days of the anti- 
slavery movement, when to avow such senti- 
ments meant social ostracism, our home in 
Harrisburg was the center and gathering 
place for the friends of the slave. Here 
came many earnest men, from the atmos- 
phere of William Lloyd Garrison and Wen- 
dell Phillips, pledged to the downfall of 
slavery. How impressed was I, a girl in 
her early teens, with their devotion and 
steadfastness in the midst of all the oppro- 
brium and ridicule heaped upon them." 

51 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

I believe I can count on my two hands 
the names of those in our goodly town who 
believed that slavery was wrong and prayed 
for a day of release. To others, the presence 
of those men was an insult, calling for many 
threats of violence, even from those who 
had been lifelong friends. 

The first anti-slavery society in that re- 
gion was formed in my mother s parlor, the 
court house opposite, the expected place of 
meeting being barred against them. 

For many months Mr. Whittier, William 
and Charles Burleigh, the Rev. Jonathan 
Blanchard, and at times, Lewis Tappan of 
New York were our guests. My mother, 
an enthusiast in the cause, welcomed them 
under every possible condition of family, 
no sacrifice of time or comfort being too 
great for her to make. 

These men would lecture at different 
points and then return to recount their suc- 

52 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

cesses or disappointments, — and to devise 
new ways to help the righteous cause. 

Of all these noble men, who sat around 
our fireside, none ever attracted my girlish 
fancy as did Mr. Whittier. His fine, clear- 
cut features, his dark, soft eyes, his quaint 
speech of the Quaker, his beautiful, serene 
expression — and withal the vein of earnest 
steadfastness running through his character, 
coupled with his poetic genius — aroused in 
me an intense admiration. 

In returning to these stormy times in 
which we were so identified I well remem- 
ber a certain Sunday morning. My father, 
being an elder in the Presbyterian church, 
had induced our pastor, a dear, good man, 
to invite Mr. Blanchard to preach. Very 
fearful was he that some allusions to the sins 
of slavery would be made that might offend 
some of his flock — but was assured that 
nothing but the plain gospel would be 
preached. However, in the opening prayer, 

53 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

when it was the custom to gather all the 
world, with all its needs, in one special pe- 
tition to the Throne of Grace, Mr. Blanch- 
ard prayed ''for the sick and afflicted, for 
those shut up in cells of disgrace" — 
and horror of horrors ! — for ^^the down trod- 
den and oppressed!" There was a sudden 
movement down the aisles, and slamming 
of pew doors — by those superlatively sensi- 
tive souls who loved their southern brethren 
as they did themselves. Many remaining, 
suffered from attacks of extreme nervous- 
ness. After this our good pastor studiously 
refrained from ever asking an abolitionist 
to preach. 

I can well remember the piles of anti- 
slavery literature that found a place in our 
home. The writings of Wilberforce and 
Granville Sharp on the slave trade, our own 
Garrison and others, who appealed to the 
humanity of man, and the stirring lyrics of 
Whittier — were here collected — and with 

54 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

heaps of documents, short and pertinent, 
awaited distribution. Many a time, at 
night, these good friends would carry them 
to the State House — placing a pamphlet on 
every chair — in both halls — awaiting the 
perusal of its morning occupant. In the 
glare of day, such a procedure would not be 
tolerated. Our immediate friends rather 
avoided our house, fearing, I suppose, that 
such inflammable material might produce 
spontaneous combustion! 

Very proud am I to-day that my father 
and mother were brave and loyal to their 
consciences and bore no mean part in help- 
ing to mold the public sentiment that in 
years after culminated in the grand proc- 
lamation of freedom to every slave in the 
great Republic. 

A memory of my childhood lingers with 
me as I write of these times, so long past. 
I recall an awakening from sleep to hear a 
peculiar call, then my father's step on the 

55 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

balcony, a hurried whisper, and later a 
group of dusky forms passing through my 
room, piloted by my mother to a secret hid- 
ing place! There, often, these poor souls 
would remain for many days, cared for by 
my mother, before venturing farther on 
their road to freedom. Then, some dark, 
starless night would find my father and 
other faithful friends leading them many a 
mile, in silence, before reaching the boat 
that would take them farther on their road 
to safety. 

Many have wondered why Mr. Whittier 
was never married — a man so eminently 
fitted for the love of a happy home. Since 
his death much has been written in regard 
to it. Many reading between the lines have 
taken some of his sad refrains as veritable 
heart histories of his own. Be that as it may, 
I have often queried whether the letters of 
a certain young woman called ''Gertrude,'' 
which he constantly received while with us, 

.?6 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

and which were always eagerly awaited, 
causing much pleasant raillery between the 
''Burleighs'' and himself, may have been 
from the one woman of the world to him! 
Her early death, or sudden change, might 
have sealed the fountain of his own personal 
love, turning it into wider and deeper chan- 
nels of love and charity to all mankind. 
This ''might have been," — but the secret 
lies — 

''Deeply buried from human eyes. 
Till in the hereafter angels may 
Roll the stone from its grave away!" 

Still the question recurs to me again and 
again. Had not the poet an early love, and 
did she bear the name of his fair correspond- 
ent — "Gertrude"? 

A few years before his death I received 
a pleasant letter from Mr. Whittier, making 
many inquiries about my parents, who had 
borne with him the burden and heat of the 

57 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

day. After reverting to many who had 
passed on before, he says: '^In fact, but few 
of the old guard are still left. Very thank- 
ful am I that I have lived to see the end of 
slavery. 

"Did we dare 

In our agony of prayer 
Ask for more than He has done? 

Where was ever His right hand 

Over any time or land 
Stretched as now — beneath the sun? 

"Ring and swing 
Bells of joy on morning's wing 
Send the song of praise abroad! 
With a sound of broken chains, 
Tell the nations that He reigns, 
Who alone is Lord and God!" 

''LausDeo/' Whittier, 

In 1843, after much thought and consid- 
eration, my parents decided it was best to 

58 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

leave our old home and seek a new one in 
the West — that new country that held out 
wonderful inducements for Eastern energy. 
My brothers were growing up and looking 
around with eager eyes for their life work. 
My brother Robert had graduated at Dart- 
mouth and studied medicine at the Univer- 
sity of Pennsylvania. The younger boys 
were finishing their studies, and anxious to 
begin life in new surroundings. 

My father had made a preliminary tour 
of investigation through the West, and had 
decided upon locating in Indianapolis, In- 
diana, a thriving young town. 

In the spring of 1843, with almost all of 
the dear inhabitants of Harrisburg accom- 
panying us to the wharf to say farewell, we 
took our places in a crowded canal boat and 
glided away from the beloved home of our 
childhood, henceforth to be only a memory. 

The separation from old friends was, to 
my mother, a very great trial, besides which 

59 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

there were little green mounds in our old 
churchyard which she had tended for many 
a year. These would be left desolate and 
neglected. 

It was a lovely Tuesday evening in May 
when we began our journey westward. Go- 
ing to the Hoosier State was as going into a 
wilderness to many of our friends. 

Grandmother McKinney, then seventy- 
two years of age, was with us, for at the last 
she could not bear the separation. She was 
very brave throughout the long journey. 
Oh, the crowded, uncomfortable little boat! 
For a day and night it was our home, with 
the patient mules tugging us along. Then 
came the stage over the grand Alleghanies, 
and then the boat again, until at last, on 
Saturday morning, we hove in sight of Pitts- 
burg, which was to be our resting place over 
the Sabbath. How glad were we to rest, and 
how delighted was I to find awaiting me my 
dear lifelong friend, Nancy Shunk, daugh- 

60 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

ter of Governor Shunk, of Pennsylvania, 
who took me to her home during our stay. 

On Monday w^e continued our journey in 
a steamboat, down the Ohio river — blessed 
change from the poor little canal boat. 

On Wednesday we reached Cincinnati. 
There we remained a short time in order 
that my mother might pay a visit to a cousin, 
Mrs. Helen, who lived in Covington. She 
had not seen her since she was a bride, and 
was quite shocked to find her an old lady. 
Her son was later Governor of Kentucky. 
We again took the steamboat for Madison, 
arriving there on Friday. Then the cars 
furnished us transportation for a short dis- 
tance, and then began our never-to-be-for- 
gotten ride over a corduroy road! Descrip- 
tion is impossible! — just a succession of 
mud-holes, stumps, and uneven logs — 
causing a continual jolting and bouncing. 
Often we were obliged to get out and walk. 
A trying experience, but amusing as well. 

6i 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

On Saturday afternoon we arrived at our 
destination, some of us in sad plight. I, my- 
self, was minus one gaiter! Thus ended our 
two weeks' pilgrimage to our Western 
home. 

On our arrival at Indianapolis we were 
much surprised to find the town so far from 
the river. Our careful study of the map had 
revealed to us that the town was situated on 
White River, and we had hoped that our 
new home on this stream would in some 
ways remind us of the old home, so dear, on 
the banks of the Susquehanna. The town 
was small, numbering at that time but four 
thousand inhabitants. 

My brave, cheery mother, with her char- 
acteristic resolution, set about to establish a 
pleasant home for us, in surroundings very 
different from what she had been accus- 
tomed. We were warmly welcomed by the 
old residents of the town, and their kindness 
and hospitality is a cherished memory. A 

62 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

better class of people than we found in our 
church and social relations and in our pleas- 
ant neighborhood, never existed! Can we 
ever forget the beautiful welcome given by 
Mrs. John M. Bradley, perfect strangers! 
Coming, as she did, to meet us at the stage 
door, on our arrival! A bit of friendship 
that increased as we lived next door to each 
other in true neighborly fashion for many, 
many years, our two families being on the 
most loving and intimate terms. 

And oh, how many dear friends there 
were for us in this new life! And how my 
memory goes back and loves to linger in 
those days when our now beautiful Indian- 
apolis was in its infancy! 

As soon as we were well settled in our new 
home, my parents began to look about them 
for the continuance of their labors for the 
negro race. There was a small African 
church, and they at once took classes in the 
Sunday school. They were the first white 

63 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

people to help in this way, and it was greatly 
to the horror of many citizens. Often they 
were hooted at on their way to Sunday 
school. For many years they continued to 
teach, and until old age admonished them 
to lay aside their work and rest. The names 
of Mr. and Mrs. Graydon were household 
words among the colored people, by whom 
they were greatly beloved. 

Here, in our new home, within a short in- 
terval, we laid to rest a dearly loved brother 
just come to man's estate, another dear boy, 
full of hope and life, a little blossom trans- 
planted early to the garden of the Lord, and 
our beautiful sister ''Kinney," on the eve of 
a marriage full of hope and promise, and 
my mother felt that here, too, in God's Acre, 
there were for her tender and sweet attach- 
ments. 

On coming to Indianapolis my parents 
connected themselves with the Second 
Presbyterian Church, of which the re- 

64 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

nowned Henry Ward Beecher was the well- 
beloved pastor. 

My father was at once made one of the 
ciders of the church, as he had been in the 
old home church in Harrisburg, an office 
he continued to hold until the day of his 
death. After some years he was set aside, 
with several of the Second Church elders, 
to form the Fourth Presbyterian Church, 
and for many years my parents and every 
member of the family connection worked 
diligently for the up-building of a new and 
struggling church, giving largely of their 
time, their talents and their means. 

Not only were the eloquence and power 
of Mr. Beecher's sermons a source of de- 
light to my parents, but his strong and ar- 
dent interest for the slave was to them a 
wonderful comfort and encouragement. 
Many an hour of heart to heart communion 
took place in our home by these apostles of 
universal freedom. 

65 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

Well, the dawn came, and they all lived 
to see its brightness, and know that every 
man in this glorious country stood for a man 
and not a chattel, unfettered and free to 
work out his own salvation! 

At the breaking out of our Civil War two 
of my brothers went to the front. My 
brother, Andrew Graydon, enlisted in the 
Eleventh Indiana Regiment, and was after- 
ward transferred to the Seventieth Indiana 
Regiment, Colonel Benjamin Harrison 
commanding. Later he was made Lieuten- 
ant of Battery A, Second U. S. Artillery. 
He remained in the service until the close 
of the war and had a record to be proud of. 

My youngest brother, James Weir Gray- 
don, went into the service at the early age of 
fourteen. He was in the Seventh Indiana 
Cavalry, Colonel Shank commanding. He 
was a brave and daring soldier and the ac- 
counts of his exploits are graphically set 
forth in the ''Soldier of Indiana," Vol. 11. 

66 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

Later he received an appointment to the 
Naval Academy at Annapolis, from w^hich 
he graduated in 1869. 

He became a Lieutenant in U. S. Navy. 
He gained a wide reputation as an inventor 
of warfare explosives, selling his patent to 
the Chinese government in 1887. 

My mother, with her spirit of patriotism, 
at the age of sixty, gave her services as an 
army nurse, and with an old friend, Mrs. 
Calvin Fletcher, went to the hospitals in 
Nashville, Tennessee, where she performed 
important duties. 

In all the years of my mother's busy life 
she never ceased to work for the betterment 
of those around her. She was president of 
the Indianapolis Bible Society, which office 
she held until the day of her death. She was 
one of the founders of the Indianapolis Or- 
phan Asylum, and for many years one of its 
officers. She helped in the formation of the 
Benevolent Society, and year after year 

67 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

worked for it with hand and heart, a work 
that can hardly be appreciated in these days 
of liberality and system. In all church work 
she was indefatigable and she is still remem- 
bered for her wise counsel and her unusual 
gift in prayer. 

My father, after a life of many vicissi- 
tudes, went to his rest on December 12,1 868, 
being seventy-seven years of age. A good 
man and true. A loving and devoted father, 
as I, his eldest daughter, can abundantly 
testify, and exhibiting always all the charac- 
teristics of a courteous, Christian gentleman. 

My mother spent the days of her widow- 
hood surrounded by her children and in the 
quietude of her own home. She often re- 
called the stirring scenes of her life, and re- 
traced the path by which she had been led, 
until at the closing there was abiding peace. 
On March 30, 1891, in her eighty-ninth 
year, my beloved mother gently closed her 

68 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

eyes, as a little child, to earthly scenes, and 
opened them in Paradise. 

As we stood beside her open grave on that 
lovely spring evening, the sun just throwing 
its parting gleams across the scene, we could 
not sorrow, for ''Blessed are the dead who 
die in the Lord, they rest from their labors 
and their works do follow them," and to 
both the dear ones lying side by side, eternal 
peace had come! 

Within a decade, three of my brothers, 
all having passed the "threescore years and 
ten," went home to join that family in their 
"ain countree," whose numbers are steadily 
increasing as the years go by. 

Alexander Graydon IV, born 1827, died 
1897. ^is death occurred in St. Louis 
where for many years he had held an im- 
portant railroad position. He was a courte- 
ous and Christian gentleman who worthily 
bore the name of his fathers. Through all 
his life he was true to his duties, a devoted 

69 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

son, a loving husband, a tender and affec- 
tionate father to the one dear child of his 
love. He was buried in Spring Grove Cem- 
etery, Cincinnati. 

Dr. Robert Geddes Graydon, born 1819, 
died in 1899, ^^ ^^^ home in Southport, In- 
diana. He was a graduate of Dartmouth 
College in 1842, and of the medical de- 
partment of the University of Pennsylvania 
in 1845. His was a long and peaceful life, 
devoted to his profession, in which he was 
eminent, to his church and to scholarly pur- 
suits. In looking back over the years I can 
think of no character more pure and Chris- 
tian than that of my brother Robert. He is 
buried in Crown Hill. 

William Mordecai Graydon, born 1825, 
died in 1903 in Indianapolis. The well-be- 
loved son and brother, who, in spite of many 
disappointments, retained so beautiful a 
spirit and so much of good cheer that he 
was especially endeared to his family and a 

70 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

large circle of friends. Through his nature 
ran a vein of quaint, original humor that 
was the delight of all, and made him the 
loved companion of all children, who were 
his devoted friends. It helped smooth a 
pathway often rugged and wearisome. 

He was decidedly gifted with his pen, 
and might have made a name in the world 
of letters had it not been for his very retir- 
ing disposition. He was buried in Crown 
Hill. 

"After life's fitful fever he sleeps well." 

Within this period also occurred the 
death of my beloved husband, who was 
ever a devoted son to my parents and a 
true brother to my own brothers and sis- 
ters. No history of my own family would 
be complete without a mention of this son 
and brother, connected to them through 
marriage. 

"Joseph Kinne Sharpe was born in Pom- 

71 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

fret, Connecticut, in 1819. He was a de- 
scendant of two prominent New England 
families. His branch of the Sharpe family 
is in direct descent from Robert Sharpe, of 
Brookline, Massachusetts, who came from 
England in 1635. His mother's name was 
Trowbridge and he had great pride in the 
fact that his family on both sides had been 
prominent as patriots in the Revolutionary 
struggle. He came to Indianapolis in 1844, 
and was married to Mary Ellen Graydon on 
August 2, 1847, the Rev. Henry Ward 
Beecher performing the ceremony, and go- 
ing east with the young people on their 
wedding journey." 

He was a manly man in every sense of the 
word, a broad-minded Christian gentleman, 
and one who loved his fellow-man, as his 
many benevolences will testify. 

From "Sketches of Prominent Citizens," 
I quote: ''Mr. Sharpe, a man of fine per- 
sonal appearance and magnetic manners, 

72 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

was noted for his courteous manner, always 
meeting his numerous friends with a wel- 
come recognition and open hands. He was 
ever liberal to the poor, donating largely for 
the erection of churches and all charitable 
and benevolent purposes. This case has been 
noted more particularly than others men- 
tioned, that it may be a stimulus to young 
men to go and do likewise." 

He died in 1900, and is buried in Crown 
Hill. A true man, a citizen of worth, an 
ideal in his family relations. 

With this, my own generation of the fam- 
ily, I close my little history, not dealing with 
the lives of others still living, nor of the 
generations that follow them. 

With difficulty I have refrained from in- 
cluding much that I have gathered concern- 
ing mine own dear people, striving only to 
give the most important facts in these life- 
histories, and as they are pertinent to public 
events. 

73 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

The retrospection has had its own fascina- 
tions and has not been without benefit. In 
considering our forefathers, one can not but 
feel that we are pledged to the present by 
our recollections of the past, and truly "The 
inheritance of a distinguished and noble 
name is a proud inheritance to him who 
lives worthily of it." 

"It is a noble faculty of our nature which 
enables us to connect our thoughts, sym- 
pathies and happiness, with what is distant 
in place or time; and looking before and 
after, to hold communion at once with our 
ancestors and our posterity. There is a 
moral and philosophical respect for our an- 
cestors, which elevates the character and im- 
proves the heart. Next to the sense of re- 
ligious duty and moral feeling, I hardly 
know what should bear with stronger obli- 
gation on a liberal and enlightened mind, 
than a consciousness of an alliance with ex- 

74 



A FAMILY RETROSPECT 

cellence which is departed; and a conscious- 
ness, too, that in its acts and conduct, and 
even in its sentiments and thoughts, it may 
be actively operating on the happiness of 
those that come after it." Daniel Webster. 



THE END 




m J) ^ 5 3 ** 




.<y^ , »» » 



<r^ *-...• .0 



3V 



"P" o'/xT'^^^^Lr^ <* '^•^ '^ 







'^0^ 




















D u O ' 



^^^r 




c 








* <^ "^^^ o 











4 o^ 

3L> *<» 







\ •^•^'f 



' .c,^^./^. " 









.0^ %/^^*\*^* "*^o.'*^S-\o'5'' "\.'^^*\/' 



°o 




* V «1» 




r 




o 
o 




» • • i- r> C)^ ^ t • 

,0^ \/^^\/ "o^^^-/ \/^^\/ -C 




AR 81 

. O'l ST. AUGUSTINE "TV, . " ^"^^ ^b 



i:^. 



32084 ^ A^ * 
<1~ tfv. 








LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




018 458 969 2 



Mm 



